The September roster expansions mean that some of baseball’s most notable prospects will be called up to the big leagues for the first time. Here are some of the familiar names from various prospect rankings (from MLB.com, Baseball America and ESPN’s Keith Law) who will soon debut in the Show…
- Blue Jays outfield prospect Dalton Pompey will also get a September call-up, the youngster himself tweeted (hat tip to John Lott, via Twitter). Pompey cracked the top fifty midseason prospect list of Baseball America, while checking in at 91st on MLB.com’s latest listing. The 21-year-old has seen only limited action at the Triple-A level, and started out this season at High A, but has compiled a strong .313/.388/.462 line across 494 plate appearances at three levels on the year. Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca tweets the full, and lengthy, list of Toronto’s expanded roster additions.
- The Phillies will promote third baseman Maikel Franco, Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Franco, who just turned 22 last week, has a modest .257/.298/.427 slash line and 16 homers over 553 PA at Triple-A this season, though he has hit much better over the last two months. Franco was ranked 50th and 57th, respectively, on Baseball America and MLB.com’s midseason prospect lists and ranked 63rd on Law’s preseason top 100 list.
- The Blue Jays will promote left-hander Daniel Norris, Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi reports. Norris, 21, was a second-round pick in the 2011 draft who began this season at high-A ball but pitched well enough to earn promotions to both Double-A and Triple-A. The southpaw has a 2.53 ERA, 11.8 K/9 and 3.79 K/BB rate over a combined 124 2/3 IP at all three farm levels in 2014. Norris, who was ranked 25th by Baseball America and 28th by MLB.com, is expected to begin his Major League career pitching out of the Jays’ bullpen.
Everyone knew Norris was coming but what about Pompey? I heard the list went something like Graveman, Goins, Gose, guys like that.
Edit: Actually read the article lol
Pompey isn’t coming. He was sent to the Arizona Fall League.
Right I knew about that then it got lost in my mind. Thanks
Pompey isn’t ready yet anyway. He’s had less than 200 AB’s above high-A. After the AFL this year and another half a season or so in AAA next year, you could start realistically considering him for a call-up if he’s performing well.
It could happen sooner depending on what route they choose to take with their outfield for next year. I think Rasmus is gone and Melky might stay since he’s close with many of the players. If they use a short term fix that doesn’t work out and Pomepy’s hitting well, he could conceivably come up next summer. Unrealistic, but possible.
It wouldn’t surprise me to see them let Rasmus walk, sign Melky and give the CF job to Gose, with Pillar or Mayberry as a platoon as a short term option for the reason Pompey has progressed so quickly. I just hope doing that doesn’t burn them into a hole like they did at 2nd this year.
In order of importance, the Jays offseason needs are Melky, 2nd Base, Bullpen.
It makes more sense to me to just play Lawrie at 2nd next year and platoon Valencia/Francisco at 3rd. I just don’t see the point in worrying over 2nd for another offseason when we already have a guy who can play there and a solid platoon (ok, shoddy defense, but probably good for a .800 OPS) to cover 3rd in his place. Unless we’re swinging a trade for a clear upgrade (and I don’t even know who that would be, I don’t even think Daniel Murphy is a clear upgrade), I just don’t see the point. Seems like a misuse of our assets.
Francisco very well could be non-tendered…he belongs no where near a platoon role after his abysmal run as of late. Lawrie is much defensively better at 3rd.
That would be a bad move imo, although I agree it’s possible.
He’s still got a .823 OPS on the year against RHP, and has immense power. I can’t look at that and say we should ditch him because he happens to be in a bad stretch at the moment. It’s too easy to magnify a current streak one way or the other.
Ultimately, he’s provided a decent offensive performance this year, enough to make up for his defense, and there’s room for improvement both in his own game and in how he’s used. With a year-round platoon that limits how many LHP’s he faces, and how much time he is in the field, he would provide even more value and could form a solid platoon.
Most of Francisco’s career is a bad stretch.
Oh how the tides have changed.
I really like two things the Jays are doing right now: Letting Sanchez get his cup of coffee two innings at a time to gain confidence, and letting Stroman and Hutch pitch deep into games even when they’re not throwing a shutout.
I like how Gibby has put him in tough situations. Can’t do anything but help a mental makeup when he consistently finds way to get out of jams or get outs when all the pressure is on.
I would like to see 2015 Buffalo start with Sanchez, Norris, Graveman all in the rotation and give them some more time to polish a 3rd pitch or work on command some more. We shall see how things shake out. Nice to know we got legit backup rotation options next year.
I think they should’ve just let Norris come up and start and go with a 6-man rotation, which would give Hutch and Stroman some added rest between starts to end the year. He has dominated as a starter this year, why throw him in the bullpen now and ruin that momentum? With Sanchez I understood it more, but this just seems like overplaying the cup-of-coffee-as-a-reliever card now.
Norris has already thrown 124 innings this year, which is an increase of 34 over the previous year. Depending on the organizational philosophy, most teams don’t like to increase innings more than 25-30%, or 40 innings or more year over year. Next year he should be in line for somethin in the neighbourhood of 170+ innings, assuming good health. No need to push him too much as a starter because sadly, this season is pretty much done. This sounds more like a reward for a good year, and a chance for him to get him adjusted to major league life for some point next year. I still think he’ll start next season in Buffalo, and be the first callup in case of injury.
Great timing to promote Maikel as he has been hitting extremely well the last two months with 11 homers, 17 2B, and 3 3B in his last 55 games . He has adjusted nicely after a rough start.
How are the Phillies going to fit him into the lineup? I’m hoping they platoon him with Howard or Asche and get him used to the Majors. Great news following a great game.
In 2004, Howard managed to find 40 AB in the majors (following a sensational .290/.380/.640 season at AA and AAA) – while Thome was having a heck of a year himself (.270/.390/.580). Howard started 5 of the final 28 games – and got PH appearances in 14 others. And that was with Howard only being able to play 1 spot with a guy who batted from the same side as him. I’d bet they’ll be able to find about the same number of AB for Franco with 2 open spots (1B and 3B) playing the opposite hand as him (Howard and Asche).
Hopefully Franco gets a real chance these last 4 weeks. The Phillies are scheduled to face 4 LHP in their next 9 games and 6 in their next 18. With 25 games to go it would be nice to see him get 8-10 starts and maybe 40-45 at-bats.
He should just start the rest of the way. Can’t hurt, unless he gets hurt…not saying I want him hurt!